Did you listen, last week I think it was, to Steve's ATR discussion with the head of RMTC? The level of proactivity was exactly what was discussed. It most certainly can be done.

Naw, you read what I wrote wrong. I said stopped doping ... ;)

Riot, I missed the show. What day was it? I'll go listen.

I don't doubt that it CAN be done, but it will require alot of the testing labs involved in terms of taking a look for suspicious reactions etc.

lol.... kind of like somer with the 'how could they punish OJ like that'

Lukas hasn't done much since Pletcher left the assistant's role.

Yeah right. You'd already be in the gas chamber.

He is on top of the horses in the NY loop pretty well I would believe. But as is the case with other trainers with large divisions spread out all over the country he can only be in so many places at once. I think like any other business the more important clients get more attention though his communication outlets with his owners seem modern (website, email), some people prefer to actually talk to the trainer himself.

And I'm sure there are still some people out there that think OJ is still innocent. Damn circumstantial evidence...:zz:

Correction the Lukas stable hasn't been the same since Simon left. ;)

There are a few on here who think he's innocent.

I was responding to Reese who was wondering why we were saying Pletchers numbers were so down when he was still the second leading trainer in the country. When an outfit's purses earning drop from the $25 million dollar range to the $11 million dollar range obviously there are a lot of factors in play. Anyone who thinks that Pletchers outfit isnt having an off year is missing the point, is related to Todd or simply doesnt want to see it. I pointed out today that the glory years for him were preceded by an unbelievable strong buying spree by his clients the previous years. Others like the fat man and Phil have pointed out that his horses havent been able to overcome tough trips like they once did. Several others have pointed out he has lost some big owners like Melynk. Others have mentioned his positives and other drug related things. It is a distinct possibility that all of thse factors along with others that we have overlookd or dont know about are to blame.

Pletcher was not his main NY assistant for that long. Losing Jeff Lukas is probably far more to blame in that area.

It was going the wrong way while i was there

I don't know if I'd call a 45 day suspension inconsequential, I understand where you are coming from, you need to see the smoking gun in the hand before you can convict so to speak...I for one think it's beneficial to look at all the factors as they have been cited here numerous times already, to ignore them I believe one is not completely looking at the entire picture here.

Jeff Lukas almost died when he was kicked by Tabasco Cat, remember that.

Really? Todd got more credit than he probably deserved. One thing is for sure he had some good people work for him. Stewart, Bradshaw, Pletch...

I heard the program and that guy left out a MAJOR consideration...not once did I hear him mention COSTS...who is going to pay for all this drug testing?

Most tracks cannot even afford to keep the track in good shape. Who is going to pay for all the drug testing? No answer to that question was broached when I was listening.

I'm all for testing, but to be cynical for a moment will it work? The cheaters always seem to be a few steps ahead of the testers, if something is flagged they will go to something else less detectable. Other sports have had simular problems catching the cheaters, horseracing is no different I surmise. The only way to level the playing field is to let them all cheat, and the chance of that happening is O.

Why do you think that was Chuck?